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Hello AC Community,

I have an alternative product that could help the Rolodex. For more information here is my email: lggconsultingservice@gmail.com.

Mr. Barris, could you give a little more information. It would be even better if you have set up a website that can tell us about your product.

Mr. Wayne,

Yes, I do have a website. My product?s name is: LBA Healthcare Directory. The product provides practical usability, along with some extras. I?m finishing up with the website final pages. I do have a Sign-up and a Sneak Peek page, up already. My goal right now is to get beta testers.

You will see a link for beta testers on the Sign-up page, if you are interested. All beta testers will get a free license. Here?s the website for what it is, right now: www.lbahealthcaredirectory.com.

I don?t want to get tackled again, so I?ll stop typing.

Hello AC Community,

I would like to begin by apologizing to the AC community. I realize my approach toward this community was inappropriate a couple weeks ago in the ?Practice Rolodex? thread. That is not who I am, nor how I approach people in general. I?ve been in communication with Dr. Adams (Bert), and he has given me some advice on how to handle this matter appropriately, which is to apologize and be honest about why I?m here. I totally agree with him because honesty is very important to me.

My name is Lawrence Barris and I?m a software engineer by trade. I have been programming for 11 years. I was trained in the corporate environment of developing software, and worked for a well known company (ASG) for 6 years. In 2006 I was laid off, and the following year I started my own consulting software business to develop software; medical software in particular.

One of the main reasons I started developing medical software is due to the passing away of my mother from breast cancer in 2005. Her doctor never contacted her with the test results that confirmed that she was terminally ill. This led me to develop a ?patient reminder application? that would send automatic reminders to patient?s to notify them of upcoming appointments.

Throughout my research last year I came across AC, and I?ve been in communication with Dr. Bertman through email since that time. He has seen my software and was impressed by it. He put me on a list so that I would receive his new AC SDK, which would allow me to start developing the integration of my application to his application (AC). At this time (last year) he was in middle of developing the long-awaited PM. While waiting to receive the SDK, from time-to-time, I would tour his website. I noticed that he had a user board where he could receive feedback from his clients, which impressed me because it showed that he valued his client?s opinions.

While browsing the user board I started noticing a host of complaints, in particular, with the Practice Rolodex. Over time, I saw where the Rolodex issues weren?t being fixed. I understood that Dr. Bertman was very busy and he probably didn?t have the time to fix all the problems right away. Due to my experience with software development, I thought maybe I could help out.

I began developing an alternative solution that I thought could be a companion to AC future releases. I emailed Dr. Bertman over a month ago, to let him know I have a product that he and the AC community might be interested in. Looking back at my approach, I must admit it was very forward. What I should have done was email him before I even started developing the solution, and patiently wait for a response. So yes, my earlier actions were inappropriate, which is where all the confusion came in with me about marketing and soliciting.

I hope that I?ve shed some light on this matter and hope you can understand why I came on as strong as I did.

To make amends, I would like to give a gift of the product to all members on the UB. I?ll keep you posted on the release date.

Lawrence,

No one is perfect, no not one. Thanks for the explanation and apology. Just tell me that you're not a "gators" fan and everything will be all right.

Thanks, Dr. Young. You are 100% correct, no one is perfect. BTW, I didn?t want to say it, but you brought it up. I am a ?gators? fan. I hope we all could still get along, for you football fans out there. I?m pretty sure we will. Go Gators!

Hi All,

I just wanted to inform you that my Rolodex alternative is ready. I would like to give it to members of this user board. If you are still interested send me a PM.

Have a happy 4th of July weekend!

Hi Mr Barris,

I would like to be a B Tester of your product. What do I need to do?. I sent you a PM too about this.

Best Wishes

Dear Mr. Barris---
I'm not sure what a "PM" is, but I would like a copy of a functional Rolodex if it interfaces easily with AC.

For my money, AC is still the best product out there, despite certain rough edges. If you think this is bad, you should try ChartLink (at my hospital) or whatever it is that the Providence Hospital System in Portland uses. Or for that matter, PracticePartner.

Count me in too as a b tester for your product. Does it interface well with 6.09? I dont know what a "PM" is either.

Thanks.

At Tom. A PM is a private message. Click on my nickname above, and you will have the option to PM me so that no one else would see the conversation. It's the best way to talk to Lawrence.

Most people have PM notification set in their preferences so they are notified if they have one. You will also see a blinking email at the top of the board if you have one.

@Tom Please tell me you aren't a Seminole, Bama or Tennessee fan. Lawrence, you should have told me you were a Gator's fan. We could have avoided all this trouble.

Should have taken Spurrier when he was available instead of Urban Meyer. Yeah, he did win two championships, but he didn't recruit Tim Tebow.

Oh, and yeah, I will take a beta version, and the full version as well. Thanks.

Thanks, Bert, for all of your help and assisting with instructing others on PM(ing). Yes, indeed. You?ll get the whole kit-and-caboodle of the product. LOL. Glad to know you are a ?Gators? fan, too. Go Gators! Ok, it?s work time! For me anyway.

@Dr. Tom Duncan:

1.) Bert has beaten me to the punch on giving awesome instructions on PM(ing).

2.) On interfacing. You will be able to import your Amazing Charts contacts into my product with ease. I have built the necessary components (on my end) for future integration (interfacing), if AC decides to include, imports within their ?Practice Rolodex?, which would be the complete practical integration from a simplicity point of view. Keep in mind that my product is not server software (multi-user), yet. It?s a stand-alone, single-user desktop application, which has all the capabilities that could one day become a multi-user product, which could include interfacing with other EMRs, such as AC, and the others you mentioned. The bottom line ? Yes, my product could interface with AC easily. It just all depends on AC future development of the ?Practice Rolodex?.

@northcountrydoc - See #2 above. I?ll be more than happy to assist you further.

Thanks everyone for your responses and support. I?m here to assist in any way I could. All this does is makes me produce good quality work more. Continue to enjoy your holiday weekend! Try to not get burn by the fireworks!

P.S. If you don't hear from me right away. Please, be patient with me, more than likely, I'm helping someone out. I"ll definitely get to you as soon as I could. I also do my programming at night, and sleep during the day (eastern time).

I have three products that I give away to people. I call them betas although they are final releases. I never charge mainly because they are as is, and even though we (my developer and I) have always been able to support them and integrate user ideas, if my developer took off, I wouldn't be able to support it.

I do think that Jon (and he has talked about it with me and likely with Lawrence) considers 3rd party apps, I am not sure he is at the point of having a true SDK. Think of Adobe and Microsoft. If you have problems with Acrobat due to drivers, etc. Microsoft will not likely support it, but they may get the calls. Now, exceptions are companies like UpDox wich are well established companies with proven support. But, again, you connect UpDox and have issues, do you call UpDox (yes, most likely) or AC.

Now, the beauty of Lawrence's product, correct me if I am wrong or tell me to delete the entire post since I don't want to steal your thunder or hijack anything, is it is probably a standalone that if you use, you will not find yourself committed to the product, e.g. uninstall it and your rolodex is likely fine.

The issues Ed and I have with VIPER, F.A.P. and Amazing Labels is upgrading with each new version. In a real SDK or collaborative 3rd party app with the main program is the 3rd party app is given access to the code early on in order to make their product seamlessly continue to work smoothly. If we were allowed to work directly with Jon, we could use F.A.P. to directly interface with Imported Items.

But, given my work with our programs, I think that Lawrence's program is one that will not make you go down a road you can't get off of, which makes it ideal at the current moment.

Wow! I?m impressed, Bert. You have your own developer and products. I?m speechless. No, I?m not. That?s awesome!

Thank you. I?ll take your post as a complement. You don?t have to delete it. And no, you are not taking any thunder away from me. It would be nice to own some, though. I take it that you did find my product useful?

To clarify a little ? Yes, my product is a stand-alone, flexible type of product that does not take control. It just does what it needs to do for specific tasks. And, yes, it is easy to install and uninstall at anyone?s leisure (you are not committed by any means). I guess I?m one the last of the old fashion Mohicans. I still have to watch that movie.

I believe if you buy something with your money, it?s yours. Well, software is a little different. You own your data that the software application outputs (No application should lock down your data). The creator of the software owns his/her intellectual property (the source code). I believe everyone is happy at the end of the day with that.

My goal is simplicity, with good design, and efficient power to handle the necessary (or core) tasks. It doesn?t need to take a lot of resource(s) to make a powerful application. One example would be, Microsoft - Notepad. Simple, but yet a powerful and efficient tool, that is very usable still to this day. It just simply works. You do what you have to do with no headaches. We all know what the main road of Notepad is. You guessed it - MS Word. Yes, it has given us all headaches at some point or another.

I agree, Bert. At this point in time of AC?s existence a true SDK would be an eloquent edition, for third party vendors, such as us. I believe, Jon (Dr. Bertman) does agree, according to my email communications from last year about the SDK. It would be nice to work with him together. I could see that happening one day. Anyway, this is getting way too long.

I?ll end with this. I uploaded an updated version download today. For those of you who have downloaded the product already. You can simply remove the old application and replace with the new. If you have imported an AC CSV file, that?s fine, just import it again. I?ll upload one more updated download tomorrow, before everyone gets back from the holiday. Remember to PM for a license if you haven?t yet? Good day or night everyone!

Excellent post Lawrence. Can't write much given typing on my phone and using Swype. Now there's an app. Funny about notepad which is used by more script writers than likely any other media. Change the extension to .bat or .cmd and you are all set. Not to mention .cer and .pfx for your certs. It if one of the first thing I do after changing the resolution after a reformat its to pin notepad to the start menu.

Thanks, Bert. Also, the .xml extension comes in very handy (for Notepad).

I thought you were meaning Skype until I researched - Swype. It looks cool!

BTW: I uploaded an updated download.

I'm having a hard time adapting to texting on my samsung mesmerize. I think my fingers are too large in traditional text entry or in swype. Even when i turn the screen horizontal. Maybe that's why my patients complain....I do have large fingers.

Don?t feel bad, Dr. Young. I don?t even have a cell phone. I have no clue to what?s all out there now with these smart phones. The mobile phone industry is quite radical. And I thought I was radical. Your fingers will hopefully adjust to the screen orientation of your phone.

Hi All,

I?ve uploaded an updated version (v1.2) of LBA Healthcare Directory. It?s the most stable and latest version. The download is here. The improvements with this version includes; an improved backup and restore functionality. If you are a member here on the UB and are a legit user of AC, you do not have to purchase a license. Send me a PM.

I have received a fair amount of feedback as of current. It?s all good, so far. Thank you all.

Anyone else interested can private message me. Click on my name (Lawrence_Barris) and click ?Send a PM?.

What I?m noticing from the feedback, from the PMs (Private Messages) is: ?Does your product interface with AC v6.0.9?? For the last few days, I thought about how to make my message clearer. I going to create a tutorial blog with steps on how to export the 'AmazingChartsRolodexOfContacts.csv' file from AC v6.0.9, and how to import in LBA HCD. I?ll keep it simple. Hopefully, it will provide some insight.

Give me few days because making things simple sometimes take a little time.

BTW: This LBA HCD version is not a beta. It?s GA ? General Available. This means it has already gone through QA (Quality Assurance) testing. I didn?t have enough sign-ups earlier. Only one person signed-up during the initial time, when I was looking for beta testers back in May. So, I decided it wasn?t worth it with one person, and decided to do the testing the QA way. It passed the rigorous testing.

Everyone, make a great day/evening!

Hi Lawrence, Hi Bert.

I'd like to beta your software, too Lawrence. Please let me know how I can do that.

Bert, intriguing to see a physician with a developer! What are the programs you've developed so far?

Hi A_David_Matian,

Thank you, for your interest. I sent you a private message (PM).

BTW, LBA Healthcare Directory is not in beta.

Hi All,

I posted a video on how to: Import Amazing Charts 'Practice Rolodex' contacts into LBA Healthcare Directory. I hope this gives a little more clarity.

Here?s the link: www.lbahealthcaredirectory.com/blog.html

Make a great day/evening!